Introduction to Systems Engineering

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"Introduction to Systems Engineering" uses a structured yet flexible approach to provide a holistic, solid foundation to the successful development of complicated systems.
The course takes you step by step through the system life cycle, from design to development, production and management. You will learn how the different components of a system interrelate, and how each contributes to a project’s goals and success.
The discipline’s terminology, which can so often confuse the newcomer, is presented in an easily digestible form. Weekly video lectures introduce and synthesise key concepts, which are then reinforced with quizzes and practical exercises to help you measure your learning.
This course welcomes anyone who wants to find out how complex systems can be developed and implemented successfully. It is relevant to anyone in project management, engineering, QA, logistic support, operations, management, maintenance and other work areas. No specific background is required, and we welcome learners with all levels of interest and experience.

From the lesson

Preliminary and Detailed Design

In this module we pick up from where we left off at the end of Conceptual Design and we start to make some more detailed design decisions. During preliminary design, we will look at identifying the various subsystems that will need to come together to form our system. What do these subsystems need to be able to do? How do they need to inter-relate? Can we source these subsystems off the shelf or do they need to be designed from the ground up? These are key questions of preliminary design. For the subsystems that need to be designed or modified, some level of detailed design will be required. We will look at detailed design process and talk about tools like prototyping and how these tools help to refine the detailed design. To provide greater detail for this module, we recommend (but do not require) that students refer to pages 133-190 of our textbook "Systems Engineering Practice"--see reading on Course Notes and Text Books.